1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to creating models of structures and, in particular, to applying textures to models of structures. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for creating models of structures with a desired level of realism using geospatial data and different types of textures.
2. Background
Increasingly, different types of visual simulation systems are using two-dimensional geospatial data and three-dimensional geospatial data to simulate different types of environments. As used herein, “geospatial data” may identify the geographic location and characteristics of natural or constructed features and boundaries on the earth. These features and/or boundaries are typically represented by points, lines, polygons, and/or complex geometric features. Geospatial data may include original and/or interpreted geospatial data derived through, for example, without limitation, remote sensing, images, aerial photographs, raster data sets, and/or other forms of data and/or data sets. Further, geospatial data may be in digitized or non-digitized form.
Using geospatial data to visually simulate environments such as, for example, urban environments, rural environments, industrial environments, and/or other types of environments, may improve the realism of these visual simulations. However, some currently available visual simulation systems use geospatial data having different formats and/or process the geospatial data to form simulation data having different formats. Consequently, correlating between the simulated environments generated by these different types of visual simulation systems may be more difficult than desired.
Further, some currently available visual simulation systems may be unable to visually simulate structures as realistically as desired. For example, these visual simulation systems may be unable to visually simulate structures, such as, but not limited to, buildings, apartment complexes, bridges, factories, towers, and/or other types of structures, as realistically as desired. In particular, these visual simulation systems may be unable to visually simulate the texture of a building as realistically and/or as accurately as desired. For example, the visual simulation systems may be unable to simulate the brick texture or stone texture of a building, or, in some cases, the architectural features of the roof of a building.
Additionally, some currently available visual simulation systems may be unable to process extensive amounts of two-dimensional geospatial data as quickly as desired. In other words, these visual simulation systems may not be as efficient as desired. In particular, portions of the process of generating visual simulations based on geospatial data may need to be manually performed by a human operator. More specifically, decisions regarding the manner in which certain features of structures are visually simulated may need to be made by a human operator.
Consequently, this type of process may take more time than is available for a human operator. For example, a portion of a city may need to be visually simulated. This portion of the city may include over 500 buildings and/or other types of structures, each having at least one distinct feature, that need to be visually simulated. With currently available visual simulation systems, processing geospatial data for this portion of the city to visually simulate the portion of the city may take one human operator about four to five days to complete. It may be desirable to have a visual simulation system capable of reducing the time needed to visually simulate the portion of the city to less than a day, or even a few hours.
In some cases, the process of visually simulating a geographic area may require an operator having a certain level of expertise and/or skill and/or having detailed knowledge of the types of structures and features that may be native to this particular geographic area. However, a single human operator may not have the desired level of expertise, skill, and/or knowledge about the different types of structures indigenous to different parts of the world.
In still other examples, some currently available visual simulation systems do not easily provide a capability to generate certain features of structures that are realistic and representative of the types of structures and features that are indigenous to a particular geographic area being identified and depicted by the geospatial data. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus that take into account at least some of the issues discussed above, as well as other possible issues.